The Atom: Issue 1

By TommytheHitman

Ivy Town had always been one of the main constants in Ryan Choi's life. A life filled to the brim with boredom and nothingness, a few shining spots here and there... but for the most part, it was as quiet a life as anyone could live. Ivy Town had first been founded in the 1870s, just outside of Connecticut, and Ryan had lived there his entire life.

"Have you got everything?" Amanda Turner asked as she clipped Ryan's name tag to his shirt. "You're not leaving anything behind are you? Not leaving anything vital?"

Ryan shifted slightly on his bed, both he and Amanda were seated inside the small apartment studio that Ryan called home. Technically it was his mother's apartment, however she was still visiting her family in Hong Kong, a trip that Biyu Choi had been on for the past seven months. She must have been enjoying herself. Ryan was dressed in the smartest clothes he could afford, clothes that he hoped wouldn't make him look TOO informal while still keeping a type of intelligence to his name, he was wearing a shirt, tie, trousers and various other accessories that would help make him look much smarter then he actually felt. He'd combed his hair back, applied some of the zit removal cream he kept in the bathroom and taken the longest shower of his entire life, it had been freezing cold... however it had shocked Ryan enough to wake him up.

The only problem was, Ryan was still a nervous wreck. The shower's temperature hadn't been able to do a thing about it... and nothing would be able to. Today was the most important day of Ryan's entire life. More important then the day he'd received his High School Exam results, far more important then when he'd received his scholarship to Ivy Town University and vastly more important then when he'd graduated with full honors.

Today... was the start of Ryan Choi's internship.

"I'm ready." He lied before standing up from the bed, he took a quick glance around his room and couldn't help but smile at the items he'd collected in his PREVIOUS and less important life. The stack of Al Pratt comics in the corner, the bundle of dirty clothes in his wash basket that he'd neglected for the fifth week in a row and the half eaten pizza sitting on the windowsill that he'd feasted on the night earlier before becoming so nervous that he couldn't finish the darn thing off. Perhaps Ryan saying that he was, "Ready" was a bit too false. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Which really wasn't saying much. Amanda stared at Ryan's eyes for a moment before smiling.

"...good." She said. "That's good." Amanda didn't really sound convinced. Ryan adjusted his trousers before starting to walk towards the door leading to his apartment's living area. Amanda followed behind him. The two of them walked silently down the hallway before reaching the door leading to the building's hallway, Ryan plucked his satchel up off the coat hanger it was resting on and strapped it on its shoulder. "Have a great day today, Ryan." Amanda said before planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "Good luck." She smiled at him. "I'll be thinking of you at work."

Ryan smiled back at her and unlocked the door. "Thanks, 'manda." He muttered before stepping into the hall, his hand kept the door open slightly as he looked back at his best friend in the whole world. "I love you." He told her.

Amanda's face twitched slightly. "That's sweet." She said before placing her hand on the door and slamming it shut.

Not exactly the words that Ryan wanted to hear. With a sigh, he plucked his bag up his shoulder and started his slow descent down the apartment building's stairs. Ivy Town was by no means a large community, however it would still take him a couple of minutes to arrive at his destination.

Palmer Technologies was going to be an interesting adventure.

The bright neon lights flashed in the crisp morning sky sending bright flames of purple upon the pavement below. Ryan stared up at the sign for a moment and almost passed out.

PALMER TECHNOLOGIES

"Exploring the future"

The whole journey of Ryan's life had been leading up to this single moment in time, however now that it had finally arrived Ryan seemed to be unwilling to take the last step that was required. For a moment he placed his hand upon the glass doors before him and almost turned around to walk back home, something that he may have done... if it wasn't for the vibrating sensation he felt in his trouser pocket.

"Good luck, sweetie. Luv, Mum."The large block letters filled the screen, and Ryan knew he would hate himself forever if he didn't seize the opportunity by the handles. He took a deep breath and stepped through the doors into the reception area. Surprisingly the place was empty, with the only living creatures in the room being Ryan himself, the receptionist seated behind the desk and the goldfish bubbling in the tank to the right of the fire exit door.

"Hi there. I'm Ryan Choi and I'm the new intern." Is how Ryan intended the conversation to go. He took a step towards the desk and stared down at the receptionist below him. He opened his mouth to speak however instead of taking a form of English the words came out like, "Gpffhhhff." The receptionist stared at Ryan for a moment.

"Nervous?" She asked. Ryan coughed slightly before attempting to reclaim his composure.

"No, no." He stammered. "I'm fi-"

"Ryan Choi?" She interrupted before standing up and offering her hand to him. "My name's Rhonda." Ryan shook her hand firmly. She was slightly older then him. In her mid twenties, and her skin was a dark olive color, her hair was a deep brown and for whatever reason she seemed to be wearing red tinted sunglasses across her face. "Rhonda Pineda."

"How... how did you know who I was?" Ryan asked, the question being the only thing he could think of. Rhonda gave him a strange look.

"I read your name tag." She told him. "You're the new intern right?" Ryan nodded. "Good. We were wondering when you would arrive." She glanced up at the clock directly above her head and frowned. "You're 5 minutes late."

"...actually I'm 5 minutes early." Ryan pointed out.

"On your first day of work it's always best to arrive 10 minutes early." Rhonda sighed. "Helps to leave a better impre-"

"Oh, go easy on him Rhonda!" A voice said from a door to the right of the room. "It's his first day!" Ryan peered over Rhonda's shoulder to see a skinny, middle aged man in a lab coat stepping through the door that presumably lead to the office areas of the building.

"Mister Palmer!" Rhonda's face flushed a scarlet shade of red. "I'm so sorry! I was just-"

Palmer stepped from the door and stepped into the room fully. He stared at Ryan for a second before turning back to Rhonda.

"I know. I know." Palmer said. "You were just about to bring him to my office." He muttered. "Right?"

Rhonda paused as though she was calculating whether it was worth lying or not. "...yes?"

"Great!" Palmer walked right up to Ryan and slapped him on the back. "Why don't you get back to work and I'll handle this guy on my own?"

Rhonda said nothing as she sat back down in her chair and got back to whatever task she'd been working on. Before Ryan could even say anything Palmer had started pulling him through the door to his office and slammed him into the chair directly in front of his desk.

"So..." Mister Palmer muttered as he sat down in his chair. "Sorry about that." He said. "Rhonda tends to be a bit overzealous when she wants to be." Silence echoed. "...what's your name?" He asked.

"Ryan."

"Nice to meet you, Ryan." He offered his hand across the table for Ryan to shake. "My name's Ray. Ray Palmer. And if I ever seem like I'm not listening to you it's because I'm thinking of half a dozen things at once." He stopped himself from speaking as he rethought over his past sentence. "Not that I'm trying to gloat or anything." He added. Ryan stared at his surroundings, it was a relatively plain room. There were several bookcases in the corner, a few pictures on the walls of what seemed to be Ray Palmer going through various events in his life and... something that looked like a shard of rock on a plaque. "Looking at my room?" Ray asked.

"I'm... I'm just admiring the chunk of White Dwarf Star you have on your wall." Ryan said quickly. "Very impressive."

Ray's eye moved slightly and it almost seemed as though he was trying to fight back a smile. "You know Dwarf Star?" He asked.

"I wouldn't be applying here if I didn't." Ryan replied. This time Ray couldn't help but grin.

"So you're an Intern, right Reece?"

"Ryan."

"So you're an Intern, right Ryan?" Ray corrected. "This is your first day?"

"Yes sir."

"So I guess it's about time I gave you a tour of the facilities?" Ray asked. "Showed you the locker room, toilets, labs..."

"...I guess. Sir."

Ray stood up and patted Ryan on the shoulder. "Drop the formalities, Rhys." Ray said. "The stuff in this place will blow your freaking mind." Ryan stood up and left his satchel by the foot of the chair. "Are you a fan of Micro Biology, Rhys?"

"Ryan."

"Stop it."

"It's not my first choice." Ryan admitted as the two stepped back int the reception area.

"That's good." Ray placed his hand on the door leading to the lab area and slowly pushed it open. "It's been ages since I last schooled someone."

The morning had gone very well. Ryan had been shown around the Palmer Tech Labs and marveled at the sights he'd seen. Pieces of technology he'd never dreamed were possible were currently being worked on. Granted at this current stage he was only really a Lab Assistant... however he was more then happy that he had any part in the Lab's activities, no matter what it was.

The only real downfall of the day had been the fact that he'd left behind his satchel in Ray Palmer's office. That satchel also happened to contain the Fantasy novel he'd recently been engrossed in, and with the amount of spare time he currently had at home it would have been a shame to leave it behind. Quietly Ryan stepped through the Reception, by now it was pitch black outside and every one had gone home. If Ryan was lucky the office door would be locked, if he was unlucky the place would be locked and he'd have to return the next day. Ryan pressed down on the door handle and pulled it open. Luckily it was willing to be opened.

"Hello?" Ryan whispered as he stepped into the office. He wasn't really expecting anyone to be inside... however on the off chance that someone WAS inside the room he didn't want to look as though he was trying to steal something. When he received no reply he simply picked up the satchel by the chair and plucked it over his shoulder.

No harm had been done. And as he stood up he couldn't help but feel happy about how well the day had gone. That was until he noticed Ray Palmer staring at him from the corner of the room.

"Ray!" Ryan yelled in surprise, he straightened up. "I'm so sorry! I was ju-"

And that's when Ryan realized that Ray was realizing a red and blue costume with a piece of White Dwarf Star clinging to his waist.

"...what the hell?!" He yelled.

To be continued...